Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.
J Biomed Mater Res A. 2012 Sep;100(9):2358-64. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.34178. Epub 2012 Apr 24.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of blindness in the developed world. There is currently no treatment for the cellular loss, which is characteristic of AMD. Transplantation of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells represents a potential therapy. Because of AMD-related pathology in the native support, Bruch's membrane, transplanted RPE cells require a scaffold to reside on. We present here the development of an electrospun fibrous scaffold derived from methyl methacrylate and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) methacrylate for novel application as an RPE scaffold. Scaffolds were chemically modified to improve cell adhesion by functionalization not previously reported for this type of copolymer system. A human RPE cell line was used to investigate cell-scaffold interactions for up to two weeks in vitro. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the fibrous scaffolds and confirm cell attachment. By day 15, cell area was significantly (p < 0.001) enhanced on scaffolds with chemical modification of the PEG chain terminus. In addition, significantly, less-apoptotic cell death was demonstrable on these modified surfaces.
年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）是发达国家最常见的致盲原因。目前对于以 AMD 为特征的细胞丢失还没有治疗方法。视网膜色素上皮（RPE）细胞的移植代表了一种潜在的治疗方法。由于在天然支持物（Bruch 膜）中存在与 AMD 相关的病理学，因此移植的 RPE 细胞需要一个支架来附着。我们在这里介绍了一种由甲基丙烯酸甲酯和聚乙二醇（PEG）甲基丙烯酸酯衍生的电纺纤维支架的开发，用于新型 RPE 支架的应用。支架经过化学修饰，通过功能化来改善细胞黏附，这在以前的这种共聚物系统中没有报道过。使用人 RPE 细胞系在体外研究了长达两周的细胞-支架相互作用。扫描电子显微镜用于表征纤维支架并确认细胞附着。到第 15 天，PEG 链末端化学修饰的支架上的细胞面积显著增加（p < 0.001）。此外，在这些改性表面上可以明显观察到凋亡细胞死亡减少。
